lyke99
Service Attendant
After our wedding the week before on a chartered train in Spooner, Wisconsin, my bride and I were dropped off at the Winona, MN depot for our Amtrak Adventure/Honeymoon trip on Tuesday June 29.
The train pulled in on time and after the crew change and smoke break, the train pulled its Portland sleeper up to the platform for us. Our SCA Matt Norwood greeted us by name and showed us to our bedroom and gave us our dinner reservation card for 8:30. We received very attentive service from Matt for the duration of the trip. Since we'd eaten before the train arrived at 7:50pm, we went to the dining car to have dessert.
We had excellent service by the dining car crew, particularly from the LSA Ana and server Noelani. At Essex, MT a passenger was put off - he had decided to have a fit over the fact that he could not order a cheeseburger for dinner. Earlier the same passenger wanted to get off the train at Havre for a cigarette while we refueled at the service pad just east of the station. Seriously, buddy, they don't let you smoke at gas stations either.
On July 4 we rode the Cascades from Portland to Seattle. We happened to be assigned two of four facing seats in coach and not have anyone assigned to the other two. It would have been tight with two other people there and we will go business class if we ride that route in the future.
On July 7 we departed Seattle on the Empire Builder to head home. More excitement in western Montana - one of the dining car chefs had a heart attack. We were met by paramedics at Whitefish where he was taken off the train and we later learned he was in good condition, but was kept overnight at a hospital for observation and a stress test. The bartender from the upper level of the lounge helped in the kitchen the rest of the day. The LSA was again Ana from our westbound trip and we enjoyed our service from all servers, but especially Mario. We again had a good SCA named Grant who has only worked for Amtrak since January. He's on the extra board and said that from Seattle he has worked both the Empire Builder and the Coast Starlight, but most often works the Cascades.
Some impressions of the trip: We preferred the Superliner I sleeping car that had been through the "Empire" rebuild we had on our westbound trip over the Superliner II we had eastbound. The Superliner II car had a toilet system failure during our trip over Marias Pass, but after a re-set (maybe two) the system worked fine for the rest of the trip. All trains arrived on time. The on-board service was excellent overall and we are already looking into future trips.
The train pulled in on time and after the crew change and smoke break, the train pulled its Portland sleeper up to the platform for us. Our SCA Matt Norwood greeted us by name and showed us to our bedroom and gave us our dinner reservation card for 8:30. We received very attentive service from Matt for the duration of the trip. Since we'd eaten before the train arrived at 7:50pm, we went to the dining car to have dessert.
We had excellent service by the dining car crew, particularly from the LSA Ana and server Noelani. At Essex, MT a passenger was put off - he had decided to have a fit over the fact that he could not order a cheeseburger for dinner. Earlier the same passenger wanted to get off the train at Havre for a cigarette while we refueled at the service pad just east of the station. Seriously, buddy, they don't let you smoke at gas stations either.
On July 4 we rode the Cascades from Portland to Seattle. We happened to be assigned two of four facing seats in coach and not have anyone assigned to the other two. It would have been tight with two other people there and we will go business class if we ride that route in the future.
On July 7 we departed Seattle on the Empire Builder to head home. More excitement in western Montana - one of the dining car chefs had a heart attack. We were met by paramedics at Whitefish where he was taken off the train and we later learned he was in good condition, but was kept overnight at a hospital for observation and a stress test. The bartender from the upper level of the lounge helped in the kitchen the rest of the day. The LSA was again Ana from our westbound trip and we enjoyed our service from all servers, but especially Mario. We again had a good SCA named Grant who has only worked for Amtrak since January. He's on the extra board and said that from Seattle he has worked both the Empire Builder and the Coast Starlight, but most often works the Cascades.
Some impressions of the trip: We preferred the Superliner I sleeping car that had been through the "Empire" rebuild we had on our westbound trip over the Superliner II we had eastbound. The Superliner II car had a toilet system failure during our trip over Marias Pass, but after a re-set (maybe two) the system worked fine for the rest of the trip. All trains arrived on time. The on-board service was excellent overall and we are already looking into future trips.
Glad ya'll enjoyed the trip/honeymoon and didnt try to go coach! :lol: I totally agree about the Superliner II vs. the Is that have been rehabbed, all we get down our way is the tired/unserviced ready for Beech Grove dogs!
